Cons: some feel the flightiness is a con ( personally like it. This is what makes them alert )

The Penedesenca and Empordanesa lay very good numbers of dark brown to very dark brown eggs. ( the 140-160 on the description is incorrect imo)

expect 200 to 240 a year

This breed is flighty but not aggressive . The flightiness is what makes them so great at free ranging as they are super alert. Roosters are very good protectors of there flock.

Penedesenca are also very heat tolerant , rarely pant in our summer heat. They have large combs which can get frost damage in very cold areas.

Best bet to combat that seems to be good air circulation in the coops. This works well for me. we do not get bitter cold her in the low mountains of northern California but still get enough snow and frost.

As far as egg color.

Partridge seem to average the darkest eggs

Black , wheaten , and White Empordanesa just behind

Crele lay a lighter egg than the others but have the benefit of being Autosexing . grayish males with Darker Nut brown hens.

Occasionally I have seen rooster chicks that are brownish with greyish shoulders as well.

Empordanesa is a very close cousin and basically a White Penedesenca here in the states. In Spain there are Red and also Blue Tail I believe

In summary you will be very hard pressed to find any breed that is as alert and heat tolerant as a Penedesenca

especially when you throw in they can lay some of the darkest eggs around !

The Penedesenca breed does need help. We need more people to help by breeding them to the Spanish Standard

Cons: A bit on the loud side, can be aggressive towards other chickens, flighty, don't like human contact much.

I have had two of these ladies and was mostly pleased with them, although I was hoping mine would lay a darker egg. I had them in with one Barnevelder hen in a chicken tractor and they all seemed to get along just fine, no pecking, but I upset the balance by trying to add more and they were pretty brutal, killing two younger chickens in short order.

I would say these are a great choice if you have a good-sized space and don't mean for them to be lap chickens. It's really nice to have such an unusual bird in your flock. I've just gotten one more again and eagerly await that first dark egg.

Very pretty, but a little cooky. Great look out bird for predators. Will roost very high in the trees if allowed to free roam. Warms up with frequent treats but very untrusting of humans. Gorgeous feathering and funny floppy comb. Keep them around for their eggs, but will stop laying at the first sign of change or stress (over breeding rooster, new coop, seasons, etc). This is just my own personal experience.

The Penedesenca is an interesting breed originating from the state of Catalonia in northeast Spain. First imported in 2001, they are still rare, even in their homeland. They are famous for their very dark reddish brown eggs that are the color of wet terracotta to chocolate. They are Mediterranean in type, meaning they are of a lean build, have a flighty personality and have excellent foraging abilities. Mediterraneans also tend to be non-setters as well as good layers, although there is always variability. Penedesencas have an interesting comb, which is unique to them and a sister breed called the empordanesa. The “carnation comb” or “king’s crest” starts out as a single comb in the front and branches off into several lobes at the rear, roughly taking on the appearance of a flower, thus the name carnation.
There are four varieties of the breed; three were developed for egg production, while one (the black variety) was developed for dual purposes and is of a heavier build.
Crele (Barrada)
Partridge (Aperdizada)
Wheaten (Trigueña or Blat)
Black (Negra)
Hens are good layers of dark eggs which are somewhere between terracotta and red-chocolate in color and they are often spotted with dark brown speckles. Darkness of the egg varies between flocks. The breed has a nervous demeanor which makes them an excellent choice for free ranging. This nervousness dies down if they are handled regularly and are kept with more docile breeds, but they don’t really make good pets as they prefer to avoid contact. The breed was developed in the mild Mediterranean climate of northeast Spain but they are very cold hardy.
The crele variety is autosexing, meaning the sex of the chicks can be determined by their color. Cockerells will be grey while pullets will be brown.
Apparently the Black, a dual purpose bird, is the original Penedesenca. The others 3 varieties - all egg breeds were developed in the 80s in an effort to save the breed.
In the Catalonian region of Spain there is an annual Festival of the Rooster(Fira del Gall) the weekend before Christmas. The rooster they are referring to is the Black Penedesenca. 2011 was a special celebration where 40,000 people from all over Europe attended to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the recovery of the black rooster and hen of Penedes, a breed renown for the color, taste and smoothness of its meat.
At markets, the dressed roosters are displayed with head and feet intact so purchasers know they're getting the right bird they pay $8 a pound for.
Roosters grown out longer, about 16-18 weeks, are the preeminent Christmas dinner, much like turkey is traditional here for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Three areas of focus are poultry, wine and cuisine. One of the main attractions of the fair is the live poultry where between 3,000 and 4,000 ducks, geese, capons and turkeys will be displayed for purchase.
But the star of the show and the fair's namesake are 1,000 Black Penedesenca roosters. The roosters fetch about $50 each. The live birds are then processed free on the spot and brought home for Christmas.
Besides wine tastings, there will be a poultry show with the best hens and roosters of the 4 varieties of Penedesenca. According to tradition, each year a foreign breed is invited to participate in the competition. 2011's invited breed was the Pita Pinta Asturiana. http://lapitapinta.galeon.com/
Another exhibit of the fair is the Kitchen of the Bird in which 7 restaurants will offer 21 dishes from traditional to more innovative, all prepared with the famous Black Rooster of Penedes.
Black Penedesenca European Standard
Black Penedesenca Standards
COLOR:
COMB, FACE and WATTLES: Red.
EAR LOBES: White enclosed by red.
EYES: Black, with dark honey iris color
BEAK: Black horn of ox.
SHANKS and TOES: Black slate.
EGGS: Very dark reddish brown (Ireland) Intense reddish maroon (Spain)
140-160 eggs per year
over 65g (Ireland) 60g (Spain)
CHICK DOWN: Black with white under the neck, beside the eyes, in the abdominal zone and at the tip of the wings.
ROOSTER PLUMAGE: Tight to the body, lustrous metallic black in all sections with dark gray down.
HEN PLUMAGE: Like the rooster in all sections.
WEIGHT: Rooster: 2.5 to 3kg, (5.5 to 6.6 lbs.) Hen: 2 to 2.4kg, (4.4 to 5.3 lbs.)
Rooster Morphology HEAD: Moderately elongated and wide.
FACE: Flat.
BEAK: Elongated, moderately curved and strong.
EYES: Medium size and oval.
COMB: Simple, mildly large, upright, well sitting on the head, flat, with five or six plain short peaks, with the last and the first smaller than the central ones. The rear spur, with an arched base has a tendency to go toward the back of the neck without touching it and with appendixes to each side of the posterior. The comb, viewed from behind, must resemble a flower.
WATTLES: Medium sized and hanging.(Ireland) Fairly large, pendulous and red (Spain)
EAR LOBES: Mildly lengthened, lightly lined, very united to the head on the upper part, and suspended on the lower part. (Ireland) Moderately elongated, oblong, slightly wrinkled close to the head at the top and hanging on the lower part. White surrounded with red. (Spain)
NECK: Regularly arched, proportionally long with respect to the body, with abundant hackle resting on the shoulders and back.
WINGS: Big, well pleated and belted to the body. They musn't surpass the body. (Ireland)
Large and carried inclined so the imaginary line running from tip to the ground form an angle approximately 45º to the ground, tight to the body without exceeding it.(Spain)
BACK: Wide, inclined from front to back and with abundant hackles, rounded and rather short.
BREAST: Wide, deep, elongated and prominent; with well arched ribs.
TAIL: Developed, well populated with feathers and open with two longer feathers quite curved in the shape of a sickle, inserted in angle of 45º through the horizontal. (Ireland) Sickle feathers inserted at an angle between 45º and 90º above the horizontal (Spain).
TORSO: Rather short, wide and tilted toward the back.
ABDOMEN: Not well developed
THIGHS: Half longitude (meaning in the center of the side of the body) and vigorous with tight plumage.
LEGS: Moderately lengthened, flat, very separate and free of feathers.
TOES: Four, strong, open and straight.
APPEARANCE: In harmony and vigorous
Hen Morphology
HEAD, FACE and BEAK: Like the rooster.
COMB: Simple, mildly big, with five or six teeth very definite and jagged, fall toward a side of the face and with appendixes like in the rooster.
WATTLES, EAR LOBES, WING, BACK and BREAST: Like in the rooster.
TAIL: Abundant, long and in angle between 40º and 45º through the horizontal.
THIGHS, SHANKS and TOES: Like those of the rooster.
APPEARANCE: Like that of the rooster.
Undesirable traits - discard criteria in Ireland:
a) Red at the ear lobes on more than one third of their surface.
b) Absence of reddish-brown coloration on the egg shell.
c) Absence of the appendixes at the comb.
Serious Defects in Spain:
a) any golden feathers
b) red or silver in the neck;
c) the presence of white feathers after six months of age.